Your questions answered!

Read the answers to the most commonly asked Neopets questions this week in the Editorial section. Each week the most popular questions will be answered by one of the creators of Neopets, so keep checking back to stay updated.

Quote of the Week

She sat and felt the warmth of the sun, the gentle caress of the wind across her face. She listened to the rustling of the leaves in the trees, and watched the blades of grass bend and sway with the wind. Baelia leaned back in her chair, closing her eyes and smiling.

Soup for the Neopian Soul

It is the Month of Storing here in Neopia and boy is it ever COLD. The time of warm summer breezes, cool crisp waters, fresh fruity drinks with sunny perfect days are gone! I know! So sad. Well, don’t be too sad, you might end up turning Grey! Boy, that might throw a battle muffin in some of our plans, wouldn’t it? Never fear! This edition for “Soup for the Neopian Soul” is guaranteed to warm your Neopian up from the inside, complete with that ooshy, warm feeling of love, straight from the stove to replace the fading fun of lost summer days! These recipes are straight from the Gourmet Club of Neopia, for you to make at home, to get bonus points of feeling quite fancy!

The 9 Worst Jobs in Neopia

Have you ever stopped to think of all the hardworking people who keep Neopia running smoothly? There are countless characters we run into every day, most of whom we take for granted. Some of them may have it pretty easy, but others not so much. There are many out there who work at hard, boring, or even dangerous jobs to keep the rest of us happy, and what thanks do they get? None! That's why we've compiled a list of the nine worst jobs in Neopia, in the hopes that some of these underappreciated characters can get a little love and recognition. In no particular order, they are:

BD Nuances: Freezing, Full-Blocking, and Disables

Whether you’re going for Battledome avatars or just farming your daily loot, you’ve undoubtedly used one of these three mechanics. While freezing, full-blocking, and disabling all tend to have the same result (avoiding damage), they are actually three distinct mechanics, each with their own niche uses and weaknesses. One could even say these differences are…nuanced.
Full-blocking
How it works:
Blocks 100% of icons dealt by your opponent, regardless of your pet’s defense stat.
Example Weapons
Thick Smoke Bomb
Thyoras Tear

"The League of Adventurers" by cosmicfire918On yet another cold, rainy afternoon in the month of Storing, Hyren sat in his family’s library in their Altador villa, smugly ignoring the inclement weather as a fire roared in the hearth and his family and allies relaxed around him.
The blue Grundo’s younger brother Pharazon and Pharazon’s friend Celice were perched on one of the sofas, reading through a stack of books they’d bought during the sorceress’s current visit to Altador, and occasionally making comments to one another about whatever they were studying. Their sister Blynn was—well, Hyren wasn’t quite sure, but the disco Zafara was probably off doing Blynn things like puddle-jumping or baking quadruple-chocolate cookies.
Hyren, meanwhile, was locked in a rather intense round of Armada with his owner and the Werelupe King. Hyren enjoyed Armada—it reminded him of his days in Dr. Sloth’s Virtupets military. Virtupets programmers had developed a similar game, and Hyren had purchased it for his electronic devices to relax during rare down times in his operations. It utilised the Virtupets information networks to pit players against each other, and Hyren took pride in his elevated place in the rankings. He’d taken naturally to the game because the strategy involved was similar to what he employed as a commander of troops.
At any rate, that was years ago. Now he was playing the pirate-themed version on a real wooden board with little ship pieces. And his opponents were not Virtupets officers, but a brown-haired human woman and an enormous dark-furred Werelupe.

"A Sister's Business" by nikibogwaterCasey and Norman were quite the ordinary sort of siblings, for the most part. Casey, as the elder of the two, was responsible, reliable, and not prone to discomposure. Norman was young, energetic, and perhaps a little too naive for his age. They did the sort of things that ordinary Neopets do. They lived in an ordinary house in Neopia Central and went to an ordinary school. Nothing about them could really be called extraordinary.
Besides the obvious, of course.
It was a Friday, and Casey was sitting in front of the playground, tail wrapped primly around her paws and holding her head up as proud as any Lupe could. She was not unaware of the awkward glances she received from passing students, but one sharp look from her intimidating, bright eyes was enough to keep them silent. One of her ears twitched impatiently. Norman did not understand the meaning of the word "punctual," nor did he care to learn it. She had been waiting there for a full four-and-a-half minutes before she caught sight of his pale, bouncy ears bobbing up and down in a sea of dispersing students.
A high-pitched shriek suddenly ripped through the usual noises of departing school pets, and Casey saw Norman’s ears drop from their upright position.
"Not again..." she groaned, shouldering her backpack and shoving her way through the mob of confused and frightened Neopets. She found her brother in a sort of oasis made by the crowd of students all hurriedly backing away from him in a wide circle. In the middle, a Ghost Blumaroo was attempting to apologize to a rather stunned Wocky, whose fur was bristled up like a cactus and sticking out every which way.

"Ballindalloch: Part Three" by dewdropzz "Mom, guess what? I found another carving in my room today!"
"Another carving?"
"Yeah, like the one in the kitchen! Remember last night?"
"I remember. What does it say?"
As her mother sat with a cup of tea on the infamous couch in the Catchall Room, which was beginning to look more and more like a living room — Carleigh Larkin must have been busy this morning — it took all of Avery's physical and emotional resolve to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground. "Do you want to see it?" she beamed, excitement pulsing through her ever-escalating voice.
"I'll come see it after I finish my tea. What does it say?" her mother repeated the question.
"It says Maybelline! M-a-y-b..." A short pause. "...e-l-i-n-e. May-buh-leen. Unless it's line, like a straight line. I like to say it May-buh-leen."
"Maybelline," the red Xweetok tried the word out. She seemed to like it. "It's pretty." She smiled. "I wonder what it means."
"It's a name, Mom!" Avery chortled. "The name of a kid — a girl!"
Carleigh's smile faded a bit, and her face turned quizzical. "How do you know it's the name of a kid?"
Avery narrowed her eyes in a noble attempt at a sarcastic expression. "Mom, would you or Dad carve your name into a wall?"
"Don't be smart, Avery," her mother rebuked.
"You always say that. Do you want me to be dumb?"
Carleigh scrunched up her nose and blew out through her mouth. "You are so going to be in for it one day, missy." We should take the time to note that that 'one day' Avery was going to be 'in for it' had been coming for a long, long time.
Suddenly a thought came over the little smart-aleck: a thought that had breezed into her mind for a brief moment before she had been fully conscious, and had breezed out just as quickly.